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Elizabeth man's 1995 murder conviction vacated, bail set at $5K

richardson-mother

Gerard Richardson, left, greets his mother, Annie Claybon of Rahway, after a hearing, in State Superior Court in Somerville, for Richardson, 48, formerly of Elizabeth, who was convicted in 1995 of murdering an Elizabeth woman in Somerset County.
(Keith A. Muccilli/ For The Star-Ledger)

SOMERVILLE — After nearly two decades in prison for the murder of an Elizabeth woman in Somerset County, Gerard Richardson is going home.

Based on new DNA evidence, Superior Court Judge Julie Marino agreed today to vacate Richardson’s 1995 conviction. While he is still facing charges, Richardson, 48, formerly of Elizabeth, is expected to be released on bail sometime this week, his attorney said.

“The emotions are raw. The tears are flowing, but they’re flowing because of joy,” Richardson's older brother, Kevin, said after today’s hearing. “We can’t say enough about how we feel today, because it’s a great day.”

At the end of the hearing, Richardson’s 74-year-old mother, Annie Claybon, was allowed to sit at the defense table and embrace her son.

“He just said, ‘I told you I was coming home,’” Claybon said afterward, recalling their brief conversation.

Today’s decision is based on DNA testing of a portion of a swab taken from a bite mark on the victim’s back, where analysts earlier this year found the DNA of an unknown male and excluded Richardson as a match.

The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office said last week it would not oppose the defense’s motion to vacate the conviction. Prosecutors noted that the latest DNA test results would likely change a jury’s view of the evidence against Richardson, court documents state.

But prosecutors have not yet dismissed the charges against Richardson, and are expected to report in December on the findings of their re-investigation. Richardson’s bail was set at $5,000.

Prosecutors have said the new DNA evidence does not impugn the reliability of the bite mark comparison evidence presented at the November 1995 trial. At the trial, a forensic odontologist testified that the bite mark matched Richardson’s teeth, but a defense expert said no such match existed.

The defense has claimed that such bite mark evidence has proven to be unreliable, and said the charges should be dismissed.

“The DNA proves that Gerard Richardson is not the person who committed this crime,” said Richardson’s attorney, Vanessa Potkin, an attorney with the New York-based Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal clinic dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing. “He’s absolutely innocent.”

Richardson had been serving a 30-year prison sentence in the murder of 19-year-old Monica Reyes, whose body was found in a ditch along Old Stagecoach Road in Bernards Township on Feb. 25, 1994, authorities have said.